Thursday Next: A Man and his Box
by AOA404
Summary: Thursday Next is enjoying a bit of peace after the events of "First Among Sequels". But her relaxation is cut short when a madman with a box crashes into her petunias, and with him a laundry list of disaster that needs averting. But against a powerful race of cyborgs, a hole in the fabric of reality, and her every day life, can Thursday make it trough this in one piece?
1. The Doctor

I was beginning to enjoy the peace of everyday life. Sure, there's no threat of certain death, crazed tyrants, corrupt multinationals, literary criminals, husbands being eradicated, minotaurs, the apocalypse or any combination of the above, but I'd live without them. I was enjoying my life with my family, and intended to keep it just how it was. I invited my Mum over recently and she planted petunias in my front yard, even though I insisted that I liked it better without them. I even told her that Tuesday was allergic to them, a remark which she called "a load of ballocks". It was of course, but she could have at least considered it.

I had taken some time off from Acme Carpets, which didn't sit over well with my former partner Bowden Cable. I hadn't done much honest floor laying work, and the work that I did do pulled in little to no profit whatsoever. But after all of the almost deaths, a little time off was exactly what I needed to ease my nerves. I also took it upon myself to tell Commander Bradshaw I wouldn't be working at Jusifiction for a week or so. I could finally spend some quality time with my husband and three kids. We went to the Swindon Zoo on Monday. Friday moped around with his teenage indifference and Jenny insisted on going to a friend's house, so Tuesday was really the only one who had fun. On Tuesday I made the mistake of taking us to see a game of croquet, as I was bombarded with so many fans asking for autographs that the game was half-way over by the time we even got our seats. Wednesday we went to see a movie together but all the theatre's were playing _Lost in a Good Book_, the sequel to the awful _Eyre Affair_ movie loosely based on my adventures. Loosely in the way a collar is loose on a dog while it's the package.

So finally on Thursday I decided to say to hell with it all and just stay home and play board games. That ended up working the best, besides for a little quarrel between Tuesday and Friday over who got to be the car in _Monopoly_ when I went to go get Jenny. Landen went instead while I sorted them out and told me that she'd rather play with her dolls. Besides the aforementioned _Monopoly_, we also played _Scrabble _which Tuesday won with a finally score of 237 after getting three triple word scores in one word by using Nextian Geometry. Friday claimed she was cheating, but Tuesday said it wasn't in the the rules that she _couldn't _use complex mathematical equations to get an advantage. We all ate Landen's special recipe for macaroni and cheese, a rarity with the banning of cheese products, and went to bed.

While I was drifting to sleep, I couldn't help but notice a crashing noise coming from outside. This was partly due to the fact that it came from my front yard, and partly because it sounded like a car ramming into a boulder at 80 MPH. I debated whether to go check or not, until I heard my front door opening. I grabbed my automatic and then crept out of the room and down the stairs. The door was wide open, but the lights were still off. With one exception. The kitchen light was on. I sighed. This had to have been the least professional break-in I had ever experienced. Going to get food mid-robbery?

I slowly walked towards the kitchen, gun in hand. I had no idea what to expect, but I walked in. There was a man faced away from me at the counter. He seemed to be fiddling the toaster. I aimed right at him.

"You, turn around!", I demanded. The man seemed startled and turned to face me. He looked no older than thirty. He had a rather large chin, with gentle features that made me want to like him and well combed brown hair. His clothes looked a bit shabby, but consisted of a brown jacket over a light blue dress shirt and black pants. The pants were held up by suspenders, and he wore a small bowtie on his collar.

"Oh, guns, I don't like guns. Never have. I'm actually allergic to them.", Said man, not particularly phased by my automatic being pointed at him.

"What do you think you're doing in my house?" I asked in the most stern voice I could muster. He couldn't be fictional, he was too well described and there was a faint smell of burnt fabric coming from him. He thought for a moment before he answered.

"Well, my spaceship crashed outside on your petunias, which looked lovely by the way. Given the technology in your toaster, I'm guessing I'm on Earth in the year 2002, but that", He rambled, pointing at Pickwick, "is a Dodo. And they've been extinct for thousands of years. Leading me to believe I've fallen through some sort of tear in the fabric reality and landed in another universe." His words were quick and to the point, factual but complete nonsense. I couldn't tell if he was crazy or completely serious.

"You aren't making any sense.", I told him after a brief moment of thinking.

"Well, this whole situation makes no sense. A loud crashing noise, the locked door being wide open without forced entry, and a strange man staring at the inner workings of a toaster. But you have a dodo wearing a hand-knit wool cozy and a fridge full of a single form of pastry, so your life doesn't make the most sense, either." I stared at him.

"…Who are you?"

"Me? Well, all things considered, including the possibility that this is an alternate universe and there is another me somewhere out there…" He paused. "I'm the Doctor."


	2. Goliath has the Phone Box

I stared at him. The Doctor? What kind of a name was that? Then again, Thursday Next wasn't exactly a typical name, either.

"I said name, not occupation.", I reminded him, still using my stern voice. Everything in the situation gave me the position of authority, but this "Doctor" didn't seem to realize that.

"That is my name. Everyone calls me the Doctor. Although, I do have my fair share of doctorates. Medicine, nuclear physics, Judoon psychology, apocalypse averting, cheese making, doctorate writing, sewing, scarf wearing, playing the flute…" He was definitely a madman.

"Look, I don't give a damn about your doctorates. What are you doing in my house?"

"I already told you. My spaceship crashed."

"Spaceships aren't possible. Now, you're either lying or just insane. Perhaps even both."

"Oh, they are very possible. Now, given your attitude on the situation, let's do this." He pulled out a pen like object from his jacket pocket and pointed it at my gun, pressing a button. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Look, I'm the one in charge here-" I aimed to shoot past his ear and startle him, but my gun was jammed. He took a step closer and I put the gun down.

"We're both adults. You look like you're in your fifties and I'm 907. How about we talk this out?", He said with a smile. I realized I suddenly had lost most of my control. I could probably easily overpower him, but I was wearing pajamas was a bit tired. Plus, I didn't know if he had any weapons or not.

"Fine." I murmured, conceding to his wishes.

"Good. Let's try this again. Name, profession, and reason for being here. I'm the Doctor, I save the universe, and while traveling I fell through a hole in the fabric of space and time and I landed on your lovely petunias. At least I assume that's what happened."

"I'm Thursday Next. I work for ACME Carpets, which handles all types of flooring and gives helpful quotes. And last time I checked, I live here." The Doctor seemed to hold back a giggle as I spoke. "What's so funny?"

"The premise of a flooring layer with a gun, totally prepared to take the life an assumed burglar. What do you _really _do?", He replied, a bit more seriously. He was good at this. I sighed and decided to just tell him.

"I work for a now free-lance organization called the Special Operatives, or SpecOps for short. We handle the things the police can't. SpecOps used to be government funded, but most of it's divisions shut down a few years ago.", I answered truthfully.

"That's better. Now, next question…Do you have anything to eat? I'm absolutely starved."

I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him have some of the bantenberg cake in my fridge. I had too much anyway, because Joffy and Miles hadn't been to Mum's in a while. While I had him sitting down, I asked him what in the GSD's name was going on.

"Well you see,", He explained, "The universe is sort of like a bubble, with hundreds of other bubbles surrounding it. Sometimes, two bubbles collide. When this happens, a little door opens between them, like a crack. As things move from one bubble to the other, the crack gets wider and wider until, WHAM! Both bubbles pop."

"Well what happens then?", I asked, slightly worried now. He seemed more and more credible as he spoke. He remained silent for a moment after my question, then took a deep breath.

"Nothing."

"Wait, but you said-"

"They would become nothing. Everything that ever happened in them would come undone. There would be no you, no me, nothing. It would all be sucked into the space between the bubbles, the Void."

"That's bad."

"Very. However, I can close the hole. From the other side, of course. So, thank you for the hospitality, but I must be returning to my TARDIS.", The Doctor said as he stood up.

"TARDIS?", I asked.

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's the best vehicle a man can ask for. It can travel through space as well as time and gets about 4 billion lightyears per gallon. It's slightly sentient and spoiler alert, it's bigger on the inside."

"Can I see it?" He hesitated when I asked this. I thought about Landen and what he would think if he saw the Doctor.

"My TARDIS? Well…Yes. But no trips. I'm not familiar with this timeline.", He finally muttered. I followed him outside after throwing on a jacket. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, besides a small crater where those awful petunias used to be. I began to think that maybe he _was_ crazy.

"Is it invisible?", I questioned, doubting him now.

"It can be, but it's not…" He took out the pen like object from early and pointed at things, seeming to scan them. "It's completely gone! Someone's stolen my TARDIS!" He sighed. "Again…" Suddenly his attentions changed. He looked at a trail of drag marks that lead from the crater and ended at the road. Whoever stole the Doctor's TARDIS didn't do that good of a job. But if anyone were to notice it, it would be Millon.

Millon de Floss was my professional stalker, and official biographer. He had helped me out on several occasions, including calling the police to save me from Felix8, the former lackey of my now deceased arch-nemesis Acheron Hades. He insisted on sleeping in the bushes outside my house, even though I've offered him the spare room before. I looked around the alley near my house and sure enough, he was there with his binoculars.

"Hey Thursday." He said as I approached, "Guess what? I saw something crash outside your house. It was blue and kinda box shaped. I was about to go investigate, but then I see a Goliath van pull up and haul whatever it was away. Everyone's gonna want to know about this conspiracy!"

"Not this one, Millon. Let's keep this between us. Anyway, did you see which way the van went?" I asked him. He pointed towards GraviPort. They had taken it back to the Goliathapolis. I thanked him then headed back to the Doctor, who was inspecting my silverware.

"Your spoons are one eighteenth of an inch to short…I suggest getting new ones."

"What do you mean too short? They work just fine."

"Well, from a nonlinear, nonsubjective stand point…"

"Thurs, who's this?" My heart sank. Landen. I turned to face him where he was standing at the top of the stairs. Before I could speak, the Doctor spoke up.

"I'm the Doctor. Pleasure to meet you!" He turned to me. "You never told me you were living with someone!"

"Well, considering I've known you all of an hour, it's not suprising. Anyway, this is actually my _husband_ Landen." I told him, slightly annoyed. Landen looked puzzled.

"Doctor?" He asked. "Doctor who?"


	3. Geronimo

Rather than answering him, the Doctor grinned a wide, stupid grin and laughed giddily. "Ask me that again."

"…What?", Landen questioned, not sure what to make of the strange man in his house giggling like a four year old.

"What you just said, 'Doctor who?' Ask me again."

"Is it really important?", I asked, now even more annoyed at how childish the Doctor was being in such a serious situation. If the TARDIS was everything he said it was, Goliath having their hands on it was not good in the slightest.

"It is to me."

"I still don't have any idea what's going on.", Landen interjected, in an attempt to make us acknowledge that there was more than two people in the room.

"Well, I'm a 907 year old alien who crashed into your front yard after falling through a hole in the fabric of reality, just before breaking into your house and dismantling your toaster. By the way, can I keep this? It's second-rate anyway.", He explained, gesturing to the spoon in his hand.

"Can you stop it with the spoon? It works the same anyway!", I yelled.

"You clearly have never eaten soup with this. When I get my TARDIS back, I'll get you some proper spoons so you can see the difference."

After we finally settled down and had some tea, I explained everything to Landen. Given the stuff I usually tell him, it was all rather believable. It was now three o' clock, so we let the Doctor sleep in the spare room and then went to bed ourselves. It had been a long night, and when I woke up, I found out it was a bit later than usual.

"Damn…", I muttered, "The kids are probably up by now." Landen woke up right as I did and we both got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. Tuesday and Friday were at the table, and I guess Jenny was sleeping in. And serving them both very appetizing looking omelets was the Doctor, in an apron. I didn't even know I owned an apron.

"And that, Tuesday", He said, putting the food on her plate, "is why inverse mass actually depends on the volume. However, inverse volume is directly proportionate to the maximum velocity the object can reach whilst moving in a vacuum."

"Finally, someone who speaks English!", She exclaimed and turned to me. "Can we keep him?"

"No no no, sorry, I have to go soon.", The Doctor quickly told her. "I have some friends who are waiting for me back home. And maybe an apocalypse or two."

"Yes, he won't be staying long.", I added. The Doctor was a nice guy, but I already had a nice guy and I would never give him up.

"Well where are you from?", Asked Friday, as opposed to his usual grunting and moaning. The Doctor chuckled.

"A place very far away. It's called Gallifrey…Ohio."

"But you don't have an American accent."

"My parents were from Cheshire. Anyway, while I'm here, I could use a job. Only had a few proper jobs. One of them I've grown to regret.", Said the Doctor, changing the subject. Landen and I sat down at the table and the Doctor served us as well. It was actually amazing, as omelets went.

"Where'd you learn to cook like this?", Landen asked, being a good cook himself. The Doctor looked at his watch.

"The 17th century, in Paris."

"…But that's almost 400 years ago."

"The 17th Century Culinary Arts Academy. _Non, mon flamant rose n'est pas un voleur épinards_."

After breakfast, I took a quick shower and got dressed. As much as I hated to, I had to go to the Goliathopolis with the Doctor. If they managed to get their hands on the kind of technology he spoke about, everything Friday did to prevent the invention of time travel would be undone. I kissed Landen goodbye along with Friday and Tuesday. But Jenny was still asleep, and Landen insisted I didn't bother her, and that he would make her breakfast himself. After the Doctor told Tuesday a mathematical joke that probably only five people in the entire world understood, we got in my Speedster and headed for the GraviPort. The Doctor was astounded by the technology. Or rather, that we had it "this early".

"This reminds me of a bit of technology the Silurians had! Except it ran on thermal energy, rather than exploiting gravity and momentum. Who invented this?", He asked.

"My uncle, Mycroft."

"He must be a genius! I'd love to meet him. Oh the conversations we could have…"

"Actually, he passed away a few years ago."

"Oh…I'm terribly sorry."

We strapped ourselves in to the pod as it prepared to leave the port. The Doctor seemed excited when the pod finally dropped, exclaiming loudly "GERONIMO!", which attracted some odd stares from other passengers. It was a few hours before we reached the GraviPort on the Goliathopolis.

"They have their own island?!", The Doctor asked in disbelief. "Just what kind of company is this Goliath?"

"The worst kind.", I answered. "Corrupt, powerful, rich, exploitative, and big." Last time I was at the Goliathopolis, the CEO John Henry Goliath V was trying to please me at all costs. This time, not so much. We were greeted by several armed guards.

"What is it with you people and guns?", The Doctor shouted. I ignored him and reached for my own gun.

"What does your boss want from me this time? Because you can just tell him right now that he won't get it.", I demanded. The guards didn't seem impressed nor intimidated.

"Actually, Mrs. Next," One of them began, "We don't care about you."

"What?", I asked, a visible look of shock on my face.

"We want him." The guard pointed at the Doctor.

"What?", I repeated. Why did they want the Doctor? Clearly amused at the situation, the physician in question laughed.

"Well then. Take me to your leader."

And there we were, handcuffed and being lead at gunpoint to the top of GoliathHQ. The elevator ride up was always impressing, especially as we passed the clouds. When we finally reached the top, Goliath was sitting at his desk.

"Hello there, Mrs. Next Park-Laine and…Guest.", He said, standing up. He was large built man, and staggeringly tall. But the Doctor wasn't intimidated.

"You stole my TARDIS. I want it back.", He said, with an icy seriousness in his voice that made him seem like an entirely different person.

"Oh, so you're the strange man who was reported exiting the box. Then surely, you must have some way of getting in.", Goliath said back, also not showing any sign of wavering power.

"What, you can't get through plain old wood?", The Doctor taunted with a chuckle.

"The box has proven…Resistant. But the Goliath Corporation has the most advanced technology in the world. It won't be long before we get inside."

"And what if I say that I'm going to take my TARDIS back before you can?"

"Then you're lying to yourself. The Goliath Corporation will crush anyone in it's path, even you."

"Oh yes, of course. No man dares to challenge Goliath. But do you know why I will get my TARDIS back?"

"Humor me." The Doctor smiled.

"I've defeated armies, brought down governments and civilizations, destroyed empires, and stopped the tears of hundreds of crying children. So you better watch out, Goliath. Because David's just arrived.", He said triumphantly. Then he quickly turned to me and whispered, "On my signal, run as fast as you can." I nodded and he turned back to Goliath, who did not look amused. In fact, he looked _very_ angry.

"Guards," He ordered, "Take them to the confinement center."

"You know, I must say, this place has wonderful acoustics!" The Doctor bellowed, causing an echo. "So wonderful in fact, that I can do…This!" He once again pulled out the pen-like thing and aimed it up, causing a noise so loud that it shattered the windows. While Goliath and the guards were distracted by the piercingly loud noise, he ran towards the elevator, which I guessed was the signal and followed suit.

"What is that thing?", I asked when we got inside and he had started using it on the buttons for the floors.

"It's a sonic screwdriver. It does pretty much everything. Hacks computers, reattaches barbed wire, emits sound waves, looks cool, warms up tea, opens doors, and can readjust the pH balance in a pool of water."

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Not the slightest clue. But my life's philosophy is push buttons and hope. And is it just me or is this elevator accelerating?" It was. And that was bad.

"It is. They must have cut the line. Can you stop it with your sonic-thingy?"

"Did you just call my sonic screwdriver a 'thingy'?"

"Is that more important than the falling elevator?"

"That depends. Considering that we're rapidly moving faster and faster downward from the 300th or so floor, the impact can only kill us."

"What do you mean _only_ kill us?"

"I've had worse. Anyway, I can't stop it. But I can do this." He pointed the screwdriver at the door and opened it. I didn't see what good it would do.

"Do expect us to jump?", I asked, finally making up my mind that he was completely insane.

"No. That'd be completely ridiculous. I mean, honestly…We're gonna run." He pulled out the spoon from earlier and waited at the door until we reached a door. With split-second accuracy he jammed the spoon into the tiny space between the elevator and the wall. "Right now!" He ran into the door way, then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. However, the spoon unjammed and fell with the elevator before I got both feet into the door way and I lost my balance. The Doctor held tightly to my hand.

"This would be a bad time to sneeze!", I shouted, trying to take my mind off the hundreds of feet I'd be falling if his grasp slipped. He didn't have much room to stand on while the door was closed.

"I told you that spoon was bad! If it had been that extra eighteenth of an inch longer, this would have never happened!"

"Can you stop criticizing my taste in dining utensils and help me up!"

After about a minute of struggling, he pulled me up to where my free hand could grasp the edge and I could pull myself up. He used his sonic screwdriver to open the door and we walked inside, a bit tired from the experience. The room we found ourselves in was full of tanks, containing what I could only assume were genetic experiments. It was dark, the only light being a pale blue that shone from inside the tanks. The Doctor scanned the area with his screwdriver and then checked it.

"Huon particles all around. The TARDIS is definitely close.", He said. We both walked around the room, being cautious of anything jumping out at us. When we finally reached the end of the room, there were windows that looked down into the room below. And on a platform, surrounded by all sorts of odd machinery and scientists, was a blue 1960's police box. I remembered seeing them as a kid.

"Is that…The TARDIS?", I asked, slightly dumbfounded. I also felt a bit of rage well up, as he had invited me into that tiny box.

"Yes. Trust me, it's much more impressive on the inside.", The Doctor said. I rolled my eyes. But then we both focused on the room, as the scientists began trying to cut the TARDIS open with a laser. "I can't believe this! They're trying to cut her open!"

"You call your spaceship a her?"

"It's a guy thing." One of the scientists in the room looked right in our direction. I cursed to myself, but he just looked away.

"Why didn't he notice us?", I questioned. The Doctor thought a minute, then scanned the glass.

"Perception filter…He couldn't to notice us. A perception filter is essentially an optical illusion. It tricks your brain into thinking that something that is there, isn't. It makes you not want to look, to look everywhere but directly at the filter. You might glance it, but then you turn away. The TARDIS has one, but it must've broken.", He explained. "But there's no way that this world should have perception filters…Even with the other advanced technology, it's still too primitive for something like that. Which leads me to believe…" He trailed off, and then remained silent.

"Leads you to believe what?"

"…Maybe something else came through that rift…" I began to worry, but was outdone by the Doctor, who suddenly jumped up. "Thursday, what's in these tanks?"

"Well…I don't know. I haven't look-" Shit. I realized what he meant. When I looked at the tanks, really looked at them, they had weird squid-like creatures inside. They were pale and fleshy, with a visible brain and only one eye. I didn't understand at the time how they were a threat, but the Doctor took a few steps back and even paled.

"Those are…Daleks…" The name sounded familiar.

"You mean like the Daleks from that rubbish Sci-Fi show _Doctor Who _that my brother Joffy is obsessed with?"

"TV show? I have a TV show here?", The Doctor asked, grinning his stupid grin again. "Tell me, who plays me? I hope David Tennant, at least once…Wait, rubbish?"

"I saw one episode when I was a kid and I didn't like it."

"Leave it to television and film to take something good and ruin it…Anyway, this isn't important right now! These are the organic parts of a Dalek. Judging on how well established they are, I'm guessing the Daleks came through that tear before me, maybe even caused it. But if they can arm all these Daleks, then they've got a full scale invasion force. Just one Dalek can cause an apocalypse, but with an entire army…"

"With an entire army, we can destroy this whole planet!", Came a loud, angry, and mechanical sounding voice. Me and the Doctor turned in unison to see a large robot coming towards us. It had a dome-shaped head with two lights on the side and a long eyestalk. The lower body was covered in spheres and instead of arms it had a laser and a…Plunger, I guess. An erie blue glow came from the eye as it rolled closer.

"Piggy backing on human technology?", The Doctor began. "That doesn't seem very Dalek-like."

"How do you know of the Daleks?" The Dalek asked.

"Oh, you're a fresh one. Probably still using training wheels for you. Look me up." The Dalek stood still for a moment, then actually backed away.

"You are the Doctor! The Oncoming Storm! EXTERMINATE!", The Dalek shouted as it shot a laser at the Doctor. He grabbed onto my arm then began to run, and the shot missed.

"If I can shoot that thing in the eye, it won't be able to see us!", I said as we ran around the tanks, looking for some sort of exit as the Dalek followed us shouting, "EXTERMINATE!"

"That won't work! It has a forcefield around it that will melt any bullets you try to shoot!"

"Well that's just cheating! Can't Sci-Fi villains have an easy weakness for once? Also, why do you look excited?" He did. There was that stupid grin again.

"I thought this world was gonna be boring, but things just got more interesting!"

"Are you serious?"

"As I like to say very often, GERONIMO!"


	4. Time Lord

"Has anyone ever told you that you're completely insane?", I asked the Doctor, seriously beginning to wonder if staying around him was hazardous for my health.

"I lost count after awhile! Now, we need a way out of here…", He said as he came to sudden halt. He took his screwdriver out and held it upwards. "There's an exit…That way!" He began running again, and I followed.

After a good 2 minutes, the Doctor was already trying to hack the elevator. He aimed the screwdriver at the console and turned the monitor on. I cursed aloud. There were several guards headed up towards us. With guns. Big guns. I quickly made a difficult decision and pulled out my TravelBook. I flipped towards the page for the Great Library and began reading aloud.

"Is now really the time to catch up on your literature? I mean, I love a good book as much as the next person about to get killed, but…", The Doctor said, interrupting my concentration.

"Will you shut the hell up?", I snapped. Regaining my focus, I clutched the Doctor's coat and continued reading until the world around us began to fade away and be replaced by the seemingly endless corridors of books that make up the Great Library. The Doctor's face was too priceless to describe.

"We've moved!", He shouted, running up and down the corridors of shelves, feeling things and scanning with his screwdriver. "But how? We couldn't have moved! It's just a book!" While he was full of energy, book-jumping two people took a lot out of me these days. I sat down to catch my breath.

"We moved alright.", I barely managed to say. I noticed a disembodied grin and eyes on a nearby shelf. More and more appeared until the Cheshire Cat, librarian of the Great Library, was completely formed. Nowadays he was called the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat, but it didn't have the same ring.

"Hello Thursday, brilliant timing.", He purred as he jumped down next to me. "Commander Bradshaw was looking for you. There's been some problems in a Western novel entitled _Chick Nolland Survives the Zombie Holocaust_."

"The _Chick Nolland_ series again? He's always causing problems…"

"Sadly, yes. Might I ask, who is the fellow in the daft bow tie and where can I get one?"

"A bow tie?"

"What about a bow tie?"

"You asked where you could get one."

"Wait, I've lost track, who's talking?"

"I am.", I said. People from the BookWorld depend completely upon narrative to determine who's speaking. Unmarked dialogue often confuses them. The Doctor walked towards me.

"Where are we?", He asked. "I've check about 15 books…And all of them are perfect. As if they've never been opened. No wear, no signs of handling, no fingerprints…"

"Well, they're new books.", I said, deciding to keep him in suspense a bit longer.

"No. That's not possible. Because they didn't even have my own fingerprints. Now, let me ask you again. Where are we?"

"Do you want the short version or the long version?"

"I have time."

"We're inside a sort of alternate dimension that exists within literature, or rather, makes up literature. Every book, novel, poem, or essay ever written started here, and was shaped into what we read. It's called the BookWorld. Only a select few people from the Outland, what people from the Bookworld call our world, are able to cross the boundaries of reality and fiction and cross over into this world. I've been coming for the past 19 or so years of my life."

The Doctor sat down for what seemed like a long time, but was more like 17 words. Then he stood up and looked at me. And I looked back at him. And across his face spread the biggest and stupidest grin that had ever been so firmly plastered onto a man's features.

"This is amazing! This is absolutely incredible! A world inside of books? So that means that the characters must live in here, right? Oh, the people I'd love to meet!", He beamed with excitement enough to make up for every indifferent person in the entire world.

"Well, they do live here, but you can't just go meet them…", Chesh interjected. The Doctor turned to him.

"You must be the Cheshire Cat!"

"The Cheshire Cat? Where?", The cat said, looking around.

"Mad as usual I see!"

"Anyway," I began, "Bradshaw will have to wait, Chesh. I just came here to avoid being killed. Which is the only reason he's here." I gestured to the Doctor. He gave a sort of frown. "But I'll be back soon to handle that, okay?" The Cheshire Cat nodded, then disappeared with a grin.

When we were back in Swindon, and I had just pulled my keys out, the Doctor finally broke the long silence.

"I stole something from Goliath's desk. A letter with details about an inventory transfer…Specifically that of a certain 1960's police box. It's being sent to a sub-division of Goliath called NAXOS."

"I've heard of NAXOS. It opened a few years ago. They build…Rockets."

"Like missiles?"

"No, like spaceships. But they don't work, of course. NAXOS stands for Non-profit Autonomous eXploration Of Space."

"Yes, I read the article in the paper. An article which mentions a masquerade ball for employees."

"What are you getting at?", I asked curiously.

"I think you and your husband should go! I have this psychic paper that shows people whatever the user wants them to see. You two can use it to get in and have a great time!", He mused. "I'll watch the kids and have them in bed before ten. I'll be in the tool shed, so you two will have the whole house to yourself, for whatever you want to do. Play a game, watch a movie, do…Humanly things."

"You keep saying stuff like you're an alien. You look entirely human, though.", I said, finally getting that question off my chest.

"I'm a Time Lord. A proud race that watched over the universe, never interfering…"

"Why the past tense?"

"There was a war. The Last Great Time War. A battle against the Daleks to determine who got the universe. And everyone lost. The Daleks and the Time Lords where destroyed…For the most part. The Daleks have proven resilient and one other Time Lord has caused some trouble in my recent past…"

"I'm sorry to hear that. I lost my brother in a war, and Landen lost a leg.", I said, regretting my question. "Also, I don't own a tool shed."

"I built one."

"Out of what?"

"You may have to plant a new tree."

And so it was that on Saturday night, I put on a nice dress and a found a little eye mask. Landen was wearing the same tuxedo he wore on his wedding night, and he looked handsome in it. As we headed towards the door, the Doctor handed him what looked like a little wallet.

"It says 'It'll go great you two'…", Said Landen.

"Psychic paper.", I explained as the Doctor did. "It shows people whatever you want them to see." He handed it to me, and I chuckled as I read it. "Down boy."

"Oh, please don't do that right here!", The Doctor exclaimed in an exasperated tone. Me and and Landen both laughed.

"You sure you'll be alright with the kids?", I asked.

"It'll be fine. Tuesday's fun to talk to, Friday will probably just stay in his room, and Jenny's a blast when she comes around." I think that for the first time in awhile, I smiled. A real smile. I was finally able to just have fun with Landen and not worry about a thing.

With the psychic paper, we easily were able to enter. We danced and joked, enjoying the music and the scenery. But then something dawned on me. Why did I agree to go in the first place? I thought back to my conversation with the Doctor. He reassured me everything would be taken care of, and then turned the subject to something that would make me feel sorrow. And this was a party for the company that had _his_ TARDIS. It was then I realized that the Doctor had actually convinced me of doing something without even giving a hint of persuasion. And that I had left my kids with a questionable man that I hardly even knew.

"Hey, Thurs, I'm going to get us something to drink, okay?", Landen said, probably noticing my now worried look.

"Okay, thanks sweetheart.", I replied. I made up in my mind that everything was fine, as the Doctor _had_ saved my life, and already had shown himself to get along well with Tuesday and Friday. But when had he met Jenny? I tried to shrug off my doubts by listening to the music. But as I focused solely on it, all the other sound drowned out except for the beat. Four strokes of a drum, like war music, that enticed me to listen. Everything else faded out as the drums seemed to get louder. It was almost like an addiction.

"Thurs?" I looked, my daydreaming ceasing. It was Landen, holding two glasses of punch. I thanked him as I took mine. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine…", I told him. Then suddenly, I got a text. I grabbed my phone. It was a number I didn't recognize, but the message could only be from one person.

"What does it say?"

"Well, it says-" Before I could finish my sentence the lights flashed off and there was a collective audible gasp from everyone in the room. The music ceased, and there were screams. I cursed to myself, then I read the text aloud to Landen. "'Geronimo'…"


	5. Aornis Hades

I looked around. It was too dark to see, and everyone was running around. In the confusion someone bumped into me, and left a note in my hands. I assumed it was the Doctor and waited for some sort of signal. Landen stayed close to me, clutching my hand tightly. After a few minutes of people shouting that the doors were locked, the lights came back on. And standing on the podium was a man dressed in a blood red cloak with a emotionless white mask. He was such a show off. With my vision restored, I read the note. It said, "TARDIS should be in the warehouse out back."

"Wait here.", I whispered to Landen. He nodded and I headed towards the back door. As I went, I noticed that three other ladies were wearing the exact dress as me. I also noticed a college friend of mine, and that a glass of punch that had been spilled onto the floor landed in a perfectly circular puddle. I realized what was going on and quickly turned around. There, wearing a bright purple dress with her signature red high-heeled shoes, was my arch-nemesis Aornis Hades.

"Oh, Thursday, what a coincidence.", She snickered, making sure to highlight the irony. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Aornis. I can't remember the last time I had the displeasure of seeing you.", I spat back. Aornis was a mnemonomorph, someone with the ability to alter memories, so my statement was quite literal. The Hades family had sworn vengeance against me after I killed Acheron Hades, and Aornis had proven to be the most difficult to catch.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Now, where are you going?"

"What are you doing here anyway, Aornis? Don't tell me you got an honest job."

"As a matter of fact, I was waiting for a man. But he hasn't shown up yet."

I heard shouting and looked over at the Doctor. Several armed guards had stormed in were aiming at him. But he didn't seem the least bit afraid.

"I just walked in here, past all of you, and caused a massive chaos. And now I've attracted the attention of everyone in this room. All these big, important people. What makes you think you can just shoot me?", He taunted. I smiled, but knew that I had bigger things to worry about.

"Look Aornis, can we do this some other time? This is important."

"And what, I'm not?"

"Not right now."

"…This is a diversion isn't? The whole trick with the lights? And you're going to go get something! Isn't that right?"

Get something? Was I supposed to be getting something? I glanced at the piece of paper in my hand, and then shook off Aornis' influence.

"That won't work on me anymore.", I said. I began to slowly back towards the door. I was only a few feet away. Aornis walked closer. She had a smile on her face. I reached for my gun, to at least distract her, but found that it wasn't there. The Doctor must have taken it. I cursed him for being such a pacifist and then quickly made for the door, but at that exact moment a hysteric man ran into me. We fell in opposite directions, with him landing on the edge of a table. The table broke due to his momentum and the split caused a knife on the table to come flying towards me. I had just enough time to roll out of the way and next to the door.

"You aren't getting away this time!", Aornis snarled as she grabbed the knife and came at me. I had to think fast.

"Hey everyone, the door over here is unlocked!", I shouted. I slipped out as fast as I could while Aornis was trampled by the mob of frantic people. I kicked off my heels and ran to the warehouse the Doctor mentioned. The door was unlocked, and I ran inside. I took a second to catch my breath as I looked at the contents of massive warehouse. Boxes upon boxes, seemingly endless amounts of crates. This was going to be difficult. The Doctor ran in behind me, still wearing his costume, and locked the door with his screwdriver.

"What happened?", He asked.

"I had a run in with an enemy of mine."

"I know that feel."

"What happened to Landen?"

"I sent him home. He took your car and should be on his way there right now. I put Tuesday and Jenny to sleep and told Friday to take care of them." I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good…", I muttered. "What's with the outfit?"

"I'm the Red Death. You know, from the works of Poe? I thought it would be fitting. Anyway, the TARDIS should be around here somewhere. I'll scan for any huon particles in the area…" He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned around the area. "Here we go…The TARDIS is this way!" He ran off and I followed. After a few minutes of searching, we found the box. The Doctor stroked it gently.

"You're creeping me out.", I told him. He glared at me indignantly.

"They hurt her! I'm just making sure she's okay. Isn't that right, my sweet blue box? There there, you're safe now…"

He stayed there gushing about how "she" had to suffer, and how he was so glad to have her back for a few minutes, but then we heard a familiar noise. The noise made when a heavy machine is gliding towards you, propelled by alien technology.

"Identifying life forms as the Doctor and his companion Thursday Next! Immediate extermination! The Time Lord must not enter the TARDIS! Exterminate! Exterminate!", Shouted a Dalek that was accompanied by two others. The Doctor grabbed a key out of his pocket and unlocked the doors to the TARDIS.

"Quickly, inside! We'll be much safer!" He ran inside, and I went in after him. I didn't care how big it was, getting killed by tin robots was not an option. But it turns out the Doctor didn't lie after all. Inside that tiny blue box was a massive control room, full of all sorts of levers and dials and buttons and monitors. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"It's…Bigger on the inside!", I shouted in disbelief.

"I get that a lot. But right now we need to focus on escaping! This may be the most secure ship on the planet, but to a Dalek those doors are just wood." He began fiddling around with the controls, and the glass structure in the middle of the main console began to move. It made the most incredible noise, a strange howl that must have been what all of time and space sounded like. But then the console began to whine and the noise turned into a sickly growl and all the lights went out.

"What happened?", I asked, not sure if this was normal.

"Damn it all! They must have put the TARDIS in a time loop…She can't fly properly." "Well why aren't we doing the same thing over and over?" I had been in a time loop before, and they aren't pleasant.

"It's the TARDIS. She's protecting us from the temporal interference. But if they put us in a time loop, it must mean they want to move us."

"Move us where?"

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out."

We sat in the dark TARDIS for what seemed like hours, occasionally reminded of our situation by violent shaking. I began to worry about Landen and the kids. The Doctor noticed and gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back. Not a real smile like earlier, but a smile you do to make it seem like you're okay. It was then that the TARDIS seemed to fall with a thud. I tumbled out of my chair.

"You will exit the TARDIS, or we will enter!", Yelled a Dalek from outside the door. The Doctor nodded to me and walked to the door, then walked out with his hands up. I did the same. We were in a large laboratory area that I could only assume belong to the Goliath Corporation. Surely enough, we were greeted by the man himself, backed by two Daleks.

"Welcome Thursday and...I'm sorry, I don't seem to have caught your name.", He said with a cold smile.

"His name is The Doctor, the oldest enemy of the Daleks! Immediate extermination is recommended!", A Dalek answered.

"Recommended? Since when do the Daleks ask permission?", The Doctor questioned mockingly. The Dalek fired a warning shot right past him.

"Prisoners shall not speak unless spoken to!"

"Oh shut up. Now, tell me Mr. Goliath. What is your deal with the Daleks?"

"I'm sorry?", Goliath asked.

"The Daleks don't just _help_ people. They always have something to gain out of it. You have something they want, and they'll kill you and everyone on this island to get it. Though…I have to say, they're rather outdated. A Space-Time Displacement Field shouldn't have taken hours to move a TARDIS to a target destination. And the fact that I wasn't recognized immediately leads me to believe that these Daleks haven't seen this face before. I'm guessing that they're from before the Time War. Just a guess however, because that's not possible."

"Well, actually, me and the Daleks do have a deal. I help them restore their race to it's former glory and they give me all the alien technology I want. Time travel, spaceships, weapons, life support…And all I have to do is have my scientists preform some basic gene cloning. I can grow the Daleks an entire army!"

"And what then? Play with your new toys while the Daleks conquer this world and build a new empire on the corpses of every human on Earth? Some deal. In fact, I'd say that with that room full of tanks and the technology at the metaphorical finger tips, the Daleks don't even need you anymore."

"If you're trying to turn me on them, forget about it."

"The Doctor is correct!", One of the Daleks bellowed.

"What?", Goliath asked angrily, turning to one of the Daleks that was supposed to be guarding him, but was now aiming its laser arm at him.

"We now have a small invasion force's worth of Daleks! That is sufficient to conquer a level 5 planet such as this! You have outlived your usefulness! Exterminate!"

And on that day, Goliath fell.


	6. The New CEO

And then the Doctor got mad. Very mad.

"You see? This is what a Dalek is! Evil to the very core! A being of pure hatred! They exist to kill, and nothing else!" he shouted.

"That is correct!" one of the Daleks remarked. "Daleks have no need for weaknesses such as love or happiness or fear or sorrow! Daleks are supreme! All hail the Daleks!"

"Daleks are supreme! All hail the Daleks!" the others chanted. I felt rage boiling inside me as well. The only thing that gets me through the day is that I know I have a loving family at home, and they consider that weakness.

"If you ask me, you're the weak ones," I snapped. "Someone who can only hate, and can't understand the feeling of loving and being loved has nothing to live for!"

"Incorrect! Daleks live to cleanse the universe!"

"The Doctor may prove useful to the furthering of the plan! He will be allowed to live! The human female is not required! She will be immediately exterminated!"

"Incorrect! Daleks live to cleanse the universe!"

"The Doctor may prove useful to the furthering of the plan! He will be allowed to live! The human female is not required! She will be immediately exterminated!"

"Incorrect! Daleks live to cleanse the universe!"

"The Doctor may prove useful to the furthering of the plan! He will be allowed to live! The human female is not required! She will be immediately exterminated!"

"Incorrect! Daleks live to cleanse the universe!"

"The Doctor may prove useful to the furthering of the plan! He will be allowed to live! The human female is not required! She will be immediately exterminated!"

I looked at the Daleks, who now went through their motions and then sort of blipped back into place. They had been put in a time loop.

"What did you do?" I asked the Doctor.

"The Space-Time Displacement Field they used to drag us didn't drain the backup engines. I had just enough power to program the TARDIS to create a localized time loop on a specific gene sequence within a 10 mile radius. However, the TARDIS isn't meant to be creating external time loops so it will only last about a week or so. And she can't time travel outside of this week."

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, we now have 7 days to figure out how to stop the Daleks from committing genocide on the human race."

"Why don't we just destroy them right now?"

"No. No destroying. Brainstorming is better. You solve problems, and no one gets hurt! Now come on, we need to get you home."

"What about Goliath?"

"He got what he wanted."

The TARDIS trip home was nearly instant, which was good because it was very late. I ran upstairs, slipped into something more comfortable then got into bed with Landen, who was awake.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We got attacked by Daleks," I began.

"I'm not going to ask. I'm just going to believe you," said Landen. I smiled.

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

The following morning I groaned as I got up. I would have to go to work again. I took a quick shower and put on my ACME Carpets uniform, then went downstairs where the Doctor was finishing up breakfast and speaking to Tuesday about how something can be dimensionally transcendental.

"Doctor, I have to go to work," I told him.

"Oh wonderful, I've been hoping to get a job!" he exclaimed.

"What? No, you can't come with me."

"I'm not coming with you. I'm taking the TARDIS."

I sighed. You couldn't convince that man the sky was blue. He'd probably go on about how it's actually just water particles reflecting the blue rays of the light spectrum, and that the sky is technically clear. Then again, Tuesday said the exact same thing every time one of us even mentioned how beautiful the blue sky was. I walked over to the living room and turned on the tele. It was on the Toad News channel, which was reporting Goliath's death.

"On another tragic note," the news anchor began, "Mr. Goliath's son, John Henry Goliath VI was found dead this morning. He was shot several times in the chest and head. The case is being investigated, but with the heir to the Goliath Corporation's credit card missing, it seems to have been a robbery gone wrong."

I narrowed my eyes. That sounded suspiciously like something Aornis would do. But why would Aornis murder the heir to the Goliath Corporation? The news anchor continued, now talking about the next CEO of the world's largest multinational.

"A decision on the next CEO of Goliath was made by it's board of executives earlier this morning. Head of the NAXOS Corporation, a sub-company of Goliath, Mester E. Nigma was their almost unanimous choice. Toad News was able to get an exclusive interview with Mr. Nigma. We go to John Howard for that." The camera switched to a live feed in front of a poster with the Goliath Corporation logo on it. John Howard held up the microphone to a middle-aged man dressed in a blue tweed suit. He had short hair that was sort of white at the ends, and warm features. His smile almost made me want to like him.

"Thank you. That was Leslie Simm reporting. I'm here with the new CEO of the Goliath Corporation. Mr. Nigma, how does it feel being one of the most powerful men on Earth?"

"Well, it's a great honor, but also a great responsibility. A responsibility that I take on with the intention of doing what is best for all consumers of Goliath products, and anyone whom Goliath sponsors. I would like to thank the board of executives for making the decision to appoint me CEO, and I would also like to thank a very old friend of mine, who made all of this possible. He knows who he is. I apologize, but this is all the time that I have. I'm meeting someone later and a must prepare," Mester said with a completely earnest look and tone of voice. I thought that maybe the Goliath Corporation would be better now. After all, it seemed like they now had a genuine leader who was a good man. But it was hard to think over the eerily familiar sound that rang in my head. I tapped my fingers to it.

Dada dadum, dada dadum…

What a nice man, that Mr. Nigma.

* * *

Hello all! AOA404 here. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. As you may have notice, I've switched up the way I write quotations. That is because the new way is the actual, proper, grammatical way. I recently read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss so I've been a bit obsessed with that sort of thing. I only bring this up because I may go back and fix some of the older chapters' grammatical mistakes and post the revised versions of them. You probably don't care, but I'm putting it out there anyway. :P

If you like the story, then show me some love! Read, reveiw, share, and repeat!


	7. Warnings of a Past Future

I managed to shake myself out of whatever trance I was in. What had just happened? I felt a bit uneasy, so I went to sit at the table with Tuesday, Landen, and Friday. I ate my breakfast quickly, then kissed each of them goodbye. Landen said that Jenny was sick and he was going to make an appointment for her later, so I decided not to bother her. I grabbed my car keys then left. The usual routine.

The drive to work wasn't very long, or very complex. But on my way, something very strange happened. A woman suddenly appeared from thin air and landed on the hood of my car. She was about my height and wore all black. Her face was obscured by a helmet with a blacked out visor. I got out to see if she was alright.

"I'm fine," she insisted. She stood up and wiped herself off, then looked at me. "You're Thursday Next, right?" I nodded.

"Yes, I am. Who are you?" I asked.

"Who I am isn't important. But what is important, is that you must not let the Doctor die! At any cost, you have to save him!"

"Should I be worried about him dying?"

"Something is coming. Something that makes the Daleks look easy. It will destroy everything, unless the Doctor is there to stop it. So what ever you do, do not let that man die!" She walked a bit away, then rolled down her sleeve to reveal a device on her wrist. She pressed a few buttons on it, and then disappeared from sight. I was very confused, but I figured it would all sort itself out eventually. I got back in my car and finished the ride to ACME Carpets.

Despite the name, we did more than just carpet. ACME also did tiles, linoleum, and wood flooring. As I walked in, my former partner Bowden Cable greeted me with an unhappy look.

"Do you know how much work we have backed up? I've got customers calling and complaining that they've been waiting almost 2 weeks for their carpet installation!" he said in an angry tone. I don't think he really was as enraged as he wanted to come off.

"I was on vacation, which I might add that I was not paid for. And it was only one week," I responded. It was then that I heard the TARDIS. The Doctor walked in and smiled.

"Hello! I'm not late am I? I'm absolutely dreadful at being on time. Sometimes I'm at the right time, but the wrong place. And let me tell you, showing up at a funeral in a party hat with a bottle of champagne does not come off well," he said.

"Actually, your timing couldn't be better. Thursday, this is our newest employee, the Doctor. He just applied yesterday," Bowden told me. I grimaced. The TARDIS really was a time machine.

"Yes, I know who he is," I replied. "He's staying with me and Landen."

"Good. Then I'll expect you and Spike to show him the ropes. There's a house on Angel Street that requested some tiling for their kitchen. You can't miss it, there's a large weeping willow out front."

Spike Stoker was the only member of SpecOps Division 17. Everyone else was either too scared or died or turned into a horrible monster of some description and then had to be killed. We had become good friends and I helped him on several missions. I greeted him and introduced him to the Doctor, then we all got into the ACME Carpets van and were on our way.

"So Doc, are you from Swindon?" Spike asked.

"I'm from…Around. Bit of a traveller. I've never been one to settle down," he answered.

"I'd always considered working abroad and I might have if it wasn't for my daughter. You have any kids, Doc?"

"I…Hey look, we've arrived!" the Doctor replied, quickly changing the subject. Spike parked in the driveway of a very old looking brick house. It was covered in moss almost all over, and a few of the windows were boarded up. I checked the address again.

"Are you…Sure this is the place?" I asked, highly doubting that this could be it. Spike pointed to the willow tree that Bowden mentioned.

"Has to be," he said. "Maybe they've started fixing it up?"

"Seems a little too late, don't you think?" the Doctor said back, the same sense of doubt as mine in his voice. "Something isn't right…" Despite our unease, Spike proceeded to the door and knocked.

"Hello? Mr Stone? We're from ACME Carpets, and we're here to install tiling in your kitchen, like you ordered," he yelled. The door opened, but there was no one on the other side. I felt a very ominous presence from the house. I wasn't scared, mind you. I'd faced down vampires and demons, so a few haunted house party tricks were nothing. We all walked in, and the door closed behind us.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" the Doctor murmured. "And when I have a bad feeling, I'm generally feeling bad because I feel there's something bad to get a feeling about." Spiked nodded.

"I've got that same feeling. There's definitely a dark presence in this house. You two stay here, I'm going to get some stuff from the truck," he added.

"What good is carpeting supplies going to do?" the Doctor asked.

"Spike was a former member of SpecOps, like me. His department handled the supernatural," I reassured him. Spike wiggled the door handle, but it wouldn't open. Suddenly the lights flickered out. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned the lights back on, quickly. Standing, with it's stone hand near inches from my neck, was the statue of an angel. It had a demonic looking face with razor sharp teeth barred for attack. I took a few steps back.

"Weeping Angel!" the Doctor screamed. "Whatever you do, don't take your eyes off of it! Don't. Even. Blink. Blink, and you're dead. Don't look away. Don't turn your back. And don't blink."

"That's unlike any demon I've ever seen," Spike said, turning to us.

"That's because it's not a demon. It's an alien. Well, demons are aliens, too. But that's not the point. That is the most horrid and evil being evolution has ever conjured up in it's twisted mind. They don't exist while you view them, but the moment you look away…Well, you get the picture."

"So how do we stop it?" I asked.

"We don't stop it. We find a way out of this house and then run," the Doctor answered. Spike tried to ram the door, but bounced off.

"That won't work," said a voice. The three of us looked around, but saw no one. "That was me. The Angel. I've removed the cerebral cortex of this house's previous occupant, and reanimated their consciousness for my own use. The Angels have no voice."

"Well, if you can speak, then answer this. What are you doing here? Long ways from home, I assume," the Doctor asked.

"We came for the food," said the Angel. "There's a massive rift in space and time that's like an all you can eat buffet for the Angels. However, some of us…Fell through. It grew while we were feasting, and now we're stuck here."

"What are the chances of us getting the house infested with demonic alien statues?" Spike groaned. He was used to some weird things, but I think he drew the line with aliens. But what he said made me curious. I thought about everything. _Angel_ Street, the _weeping_ willow, Mr _Stone_. It was all too…Coincidental.

"It's just a coincidence. They're what the universe does when it's bored," the Doctor stated, rather matter-of-factly. The lights began to flicker again. The Doctor held his screwdriver to the light, keeping it on. "Thursday, check if there's a back door."

"Can't you just sonic the front door?" I asked, slightly fearing that there might be more Angels creeping around.

"It…Doesn't work on wood."

"Well that's just rubbish!"

"Don't diss the sonic!"

I sighed heavily then walked around the still Angel and into the kitchen. The light was off, but the broken windows let in streaks of natural light that filled the room well enough. I walked in a sort of circular stalking motion, as to constantly check my surroundings. I saw the back door and wiggled the handle a bit. It wouldn't budge. I reared back and tackled the door, and unjammed it. I was able to open it. But as I turned around to call Spike and the Doctor over, it was already too late.

* * *

Really really REALLY sorry for the long wait! But you know how Writer's Block is...Eviler than a Dalek, more terrifying than a Weeping Angel, and a whole league more sadistic than Aornis. Anyway, no. I haven't died. Yes, I will be continuing the story. Yes, fezzes are indeed cool.


	8. Heart of Stone

The Doctor had already run up behind me, startling me as I turned around. Spike followed close.

"Good work, Thursday!", the Doctor told me. I opened the door and we all ran through. We were safe. At least, that's what we thought. But behind the door was a graveyard. A massive graveyard. And above the graves, were the Angels. Dozens of them.

"Doc," Spike began, "is this part of the plan?"

"No. This was actually a bit of tactical error on my part. Back inside!" He yelled. As we turned around, Spike kept looking at the Angels in the graveyard. The Doctor opened the door again, but the Angels from inside the house were standing right at the door. I cursed to myself. We were caught.

"Why us?" I demanded. "This was all too coincidental. Why did you lure us here?" I was sure that they wouldn't have a solid answer. This was another one of Aornis' plots to kill me. There was a loud shrieking noise, like someone scraping glass against a black-board.

"The Angels are…Laughing," The Doctor said, not exactly sure of what was happening.

"Coincidental?" Taunted the voice of Mr. Stone. "Oh no no no, this is one hundred precent according to plan. And to honest, we only want one of you." The Doctor sighed.

"Fine. Take me, but let them go!" He responded. The Angels "laughed" again.

"We don't want you. There's not much left. You wouldn't feed us for a week. No, we want the girl."

"Me?" I questioned. "Why do you want me?"

"And what do you mean 'there's not much left'?" The Doctor added.

"If we sent _you_ back in time, we'd create a paradox so big that we could feed off of it until this planet is swallowed by the sun! We'd never go hungry again!" The voice said.

"Answer my question!" The Doctor demanded. More laughing.

"Oh, poor poor Time Lord. Who ran away from home in a faulty box. But you can't run forever. You must have realized this by now. A darkness waits for you greater than any before."

"Just how do you know so much?" The Doctor's voice faltered as he spoke. I noticed he had paled a bit. Whatever the Angels meant, it frightened the Doctor.

"We have our sources. Now…It's dinner time!"

"So, anyone have a way to escape that doesn't result in death? Because I have a feeling these things are gonna take a bit more than a few silver bullets," Said Spike.

"Yes, actually," The Doctor replied. "Both of you, pull out your guns, aim for the eyes, close your own eyes, and then fire. On my count." Spike and I unholstered our guns like the Doctor said. "Ready? 1…2…3…Now!" I snapped my eyes shut then fired where the Angels were. I quickly opened them again, to see what happened. The smooth stone that composed the Angel's head had mostly shattered, and it was much closer to me. The eyes were gone. I turned around, most of Spike's Angels were the same.

"Doctor, how did that work?" I asked. "Are they dead?"

"No, they aren't dead," He answered, "But they're blinded. They can't see us without eyes. However, they now have an advantage as well. We can't trick them into looking at each other. Also, if they feed, they'll repair themselves."

We sneaked past the Angels in front of us. Every now and then, I looked back. They would move in random directions, sometimes closer, but not exactly knowing where we were. I breathed a sigh of relief. But as I tried to close the door, a stone arm moved into the way. I backed away, slowly, heart racing. This Angel had heard us. The Doctor and Spike had already gotten into the van, and I walked backwards towards it, never taking my eyes off the arm. I slowly climbed in, still unable to look away from the arm, in fear of what it would do. But then Spike started the engine. I sighed in relief again, looking at where we were heading as we pulled off. But then we all heard a loud thud, and turned to the side of the car. Four or five Angels had grabbed on to the side. The engines began to wheeze and die. I heard the sound of glass breaking and looked into the back to see that one had made its way inside.

"Doctor!" I yelled. More glass breaking as another Angel broke into the other side of the car. Surrounded on all sides by blind Weeping Angels. As far as deaths go, this one was pretty terrible. But I think the Doctor knew what he was doing, because the last thing he told us to do was close our eyes and plug our ears. I felt the car swerve out of control, hit a bump that I assume was the curb, and then finally, I remember the ear-piercingly loud noise of his Sonic Screwdriver, and then the pain filled screams of seven Weeping Angels.

When I woke up, my ears were ringing and my vision was blurry. Spike and the Doctor were still unconscious. I could hear sirens approaching. The van had flipped on it's side and hit a tree. I kicked out the window then heaved myself out. My standing was a bit wobbly. I looked around at the Angels. A few of them didn't have heads any longer, and one was broken in half. The breaks looked brittle, so I assumed that they were dead. I pulled Spike and the Doctor out of the van and checked for breathing. Spike was normal, but I seemed to get two heartbeats from the Doctor. I was too dizzy to think about it. Wiping the blood from the side of my face, I pulled out my phone and called Bowden.

"What did you do this time?" Was the answer from the other side.

"Just fine thanks. I hope you're well, too. Anyway, the job was a trap. Possibly Aornis. I'd get SO-5 investigating this. But tell them not to go to the house. In fact, have that damn place torn down."

"What the hell happened?"

"Bowden, you don't have to yell."

"I'm not yelling."

"Whatever. Look, I'll explain later. Oh, and the van's totaled." I hung up before he could get in another word. I'd take my scolding when my head wasn't spinning. I saw an ambulance turn down the street. I smiled, then fell flat on my face.


	9. The Bookworld Again

I woke up in a hospital. I was in a room to myself. On the table to my left was a vase with flowers in it and a card from Friday, Tuesday, and Jenny. There was also a picture of Landen and me. I smiled. Upon looking around, I noticed they weren't in the room. Then I checked the time. It was already half-past noon. They had probably already left. I tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain and fell back down. I decided to try and go back to sleep.

However, it didn't seem like that was going to happen. Two men walked into the room, despite the protests of a nurse. They flashed her ID cards and she walked away. I figured they were Goliath, and was proven right.

"Mrs. Next?" One of the men asked as he sat down in the chair next to me. I nodded. "I hope you are well enough to speak. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your place of employment."

"What, does Goliath need a new carpet? Or is Mr. Nigma a linoleum guy?" I asked sarcastically.

"You aren't in any trouble Mrs. Next, as long as you comply," The second man responded.

"Like hell I'll comply," I snapped. "I'd never help Goliath. Not after all the times you've double-crossed me. Or does Mr. Nigma think I'll just forget about all that?"

"Mr. Nigma is a front. The public face of Goliath."

"Then who do you really work for? The Daleks?"

"I am not at liberty to confirm or deny that information. Now, either you tell us what ACME Carpets really does, or…" The first man threatened.

"Or what?" I retorted. They were getting nothing out of me.

"Or I tell everyone that that little friend of yours isn't human," He said with a smirk. I wasn't sure how to react. If they told that the Doctor was an alien, typically he'd be hauled away by government scientists who would cut him into little pieces to try and find out what makes him different. At least, that's the cliche.

"No one would believe you," I finally said back. The hesitation was all he needed.

"We're Goliath. Everyone believes us." He was right. He pulled out his gun, and I tensed up. My movement was very limited right now. But I knew he needed me alive. He grabbed the barrel of his gun, then put the butt on my ribs, and pushed down. I held back a scream of pain. "Now, are you going to answer my questions?"

"Go to hell," I snapped, and spat in his face. He gritted his teeth.

"Very well, then I guess we don't need you anymore." He got to his feet and aimed the gun to my head. As he fired, I rolled forward, ignoring the pain. I pounced on him and grabbed his gun, then shot his companion in the chest. Finally, I put the barrel to his forehead.

"The good thing is, there's a morgue nearby," I told him, if only to scare him. "Now, you're to answer some of _my_ questions." But before I could ask anything, I noticed his eyes twitch a bit as some foam came out of his mouth. I cursed to myself. He had taken a cyanide pill.

I locked the door, closed the curtains, and put on some clothes that Landen had brought me. I looked for Spike or the Doctor. I found the Doctor, laughing with a nurse. Something about Marilyn Monroe, an aardvark, and a fez. I asked him if he knew what happened to Spike.

"His daughter Betty came and took him home," He replied. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did any men in black suits come and harass you?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, no."

"Good. Then let's go, I have to check on Landen and the kids."

He said goodbye to the nurse and we headed outside. My car was there, and I found my keys in my jacket pocket. I winced in pain when I sat down in the driver's seat, and once again when I put my seatbelt on. I managed to set my ribs, but it was still painful. I drove home as fast a possible, which caused the Doctor to tell me to slow down several times. I never listened.

When we pulled up, I rushed inside. Friday was in the living room, with his headphones on. He looked up at me, waved lazily, then looked back down. I went to Landen's study, and there he was, writing. Or at least, trying to. When he heard me come in, he got up and hugged me. I hugged back, even though it really hurt.

"I'm glad you're okay," He whispered in my ear, before kissing me on the cheek. I returned the kiss and smiled.

"Me too," I joked. He chuckled and let go.

"Jenny and Tuesday are at a sleep over, and I managed to drag Friday out of his room and put him somewhere more sociable. Also, I had Bowden bring over that box of the Doctor's."

"Good. Now we don't have to go find it again. I've had enough nearly dying for the time being."

"Oh come on Thurs, we both know that isn't true."

"You're probably right, but it was worth a shot." I kissed him again. The worst, for now, was over.

The next day I ate breakfast quickly, kissed Landen goodbye, and headed off to work. The pain was not gone, just not nearly as bad. I was also a bit sore, but I'd had much worse. I greeted Bowden and a few others, then headed to my office. As I did, I stopped in front of the door next to mine. Written, in really fancy, big font were the words, "The Doctor". I sighed and went into my office, then pulled out my Jurisfiction TravelBook. I needed to catch up on all the work I had missed in the Bookworld. I read my way into Norland Park, then quickly went inside to get a glass of water.

I sat at my desk, looking at the mountains of paperwork I had to do. Commander Bradshaw came over.

"Thursday m'girl, you're back," He said with a smile. "Good. Because I've got an assignment that only you can do."

"I think Chesh told me a bit about it," I told him.

"Perfect, then you'll be ready when I brief you. You can finish this paperwork later." He walked to the center of the room and rang a little bell. Everyone in the room gather around. It was time for a Jurisfiction meeting.


End file.
